Kenyans are still reeling after Kenyan-born Winfred Mutile Yavi won gold in the 3000m steeplechase and set a new Olympic record at Stade de France on Tuesday evening.
The reason they are angry has nothing to do with Yavi, no, it is that the gold belongs to another country, Bahrain. When the diminutive pocket-rocket crossed the finish line with her arms outstretched and her face lit up with pure joy, many who had not heard of her wondered why a "Kenyan name" was pinned under Bahrain.
So many started asking questions and the answers they got made them angrier. Winfred Mutile Yavi was born in Makueni in 1999 but dumped her Kenyan passport for Bahrain when she was just 15 after trying to represent her country but never got a chance.
She knew she had what it takes to conquer the world but her birth country did not quite agree and she sought greener pastures in the desert and is now sitting on top of the world.
Yavi, the 2024 Winner of the Olympics 3000m steeplechase said that before deciding to switch to Bahrain, she did a lot of trials to get a chance at the Kenyan national team, but she never made it as there was stiff competition.
But she is not the only Kenyan who decided to take their talents to other countries after frustrations back at home.
Kenya has traditionally taken pride of place in the global arena for producing world-class middle and long-distance running talent. But it has become a hunting ground for countries keen on tapping into Kenyan rich talent that is frustrated by sports politics back home or just looking for a bigger cheque.
Here is a list of Kenyan-born athletes who dumped theblack, red, green and white with a shield to fly the flags of other countries.
Lonah Chemtai - Israel- 10,000m
Born in West Pokot County, the 10,000m champion started running in Primary School and would participate in competitions even after advancing to high school.
In 2009, Lonah left Kenya to be a nanny for the then-ambassador to Israel. Two years later, she met Dan Salpeter, a former Israeli middle-distance and mountain runner who became her running coach.
Lonah and Salpeter fell in love in 2014. They got married in 2016, got her Israeli citizenship and her career took off.
Norah Jeruto -Kazakhstan -3,000m steeplechase
Kenyan-born Norah Jeruto Tanui is now a proud Kazakhstani long-distance runner specializing in the steeplechase.
She won the gold medal in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2022 World Championships, becoming the first athlete representing Kazakhstan to win a title at the World Athletics Championships and setting a championship record in the process.
Jeruto took gold in the event at the 2016 African Championships in Athletics.
Before the switch, Jeruto was the world's second-fastest steepler in 2018 and fourth-fastest in 2019. Jeruto had to wait three years since she last represented Kenya to be able to compete for Kazakhstan.
Leonard Korir -USA -10,000m, 5,000m
Korir is an SSG (Staff Sergeant) in the United States Army and he's also one of the select soldiers as part of the World Class Athlete Program (WCAP).
This program allows elite soldier-athletes to train and compete at the international level while simultaneously serving in the military.
The 2016 Olympian was born in Iten, Kenya, where he was the oldest of six children. Before coming to America to compete for Iona, he attended the Kipsangui Boys High School and the Tambach Teachers College and found inspiration in the world-class Kenyan runner Paul Tergat.
Stephen Cherono - Qatar -3000m steeplechase
The Kenyan-born athlete shocked the whole country when he switched allegiance to Qatar in 2003 and changed his name. Now retired and back in Kenya, he has never come out to clear the air.
Anne Wafula - UK -Paralympian
After completing her A-levels and graduating from Moi University with a Bachelor of Education degree, Wafula became a teacher at the Machakos Technical College.
Four years after relocating to the UK, she would embark on a career never taken by many when she ventured into the world of athletics. In 2004, Wafula became the first wheelchair athlete from Sub-Saharan Africa to take part in the Paralympics in Athens.
Wafula won the UK-Kenyan Sports Personality of the Year Award in 2004 and has also won the Women for Africa Recognition Award.
To mark Black History Month in the UK, Wafula was among the six athletes feted in October 2021. She shared the accolades with Formula 1 legend Lewis Hamilton.
Daisy Jepkemei -Kazakhstan
Born on February 13, 1996, Jepkemei also shifted her allegiance to Kazakhstan on January 29, 2022.
Aged 16, she clinched the 3000m at the 2012 World Junior Athletics Championships and the 2013 African Youth Athletics Championships in Kenyan colours.
Her personal best of 9:06.66, set in 2019 at the Weltklasse Zürich meet ranks her in the top 50 athletes of all time.
Hillary Bor -USA-3,000m steeplechase
Hillary Bor is a two-time US Olympian and three-time national champion in the steeplechase who will be making his half-marathon debut at the 2024 United Airlines NYC Half. Bor represented Team USA in the steeplechase at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics, finishing seventh in the former, as well as at the 2022, 2019, and 2017 World Athletics Championships.
Last April, he broke the 40-year-old American 10-mile record at the USATF 10 Mile Road Championships in Washington, D.C. by two seconds, finishing in 46:11.
Bor grew up in Eldoret, Kenya, starting out as a pole vaulter, long jumper, and high jumper before investing his time in the steeplechase.
He is currently a sergeant, serving at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs.
Isaac Kimeli - Belgium- 5,000m
Kimeli, 28, traces his roots in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. Kimeli rose to stardom after bagging silver in cross country at the 2018 European Championships. He also romped to victory in the 3,000m at the 2019 European Team Championships in Sandnes.
During the 2019 Memorial Van Damme, he won the 5,000m with a personal best of 13:13.02.
Abraham Rotich- Bahrain-800m
Rotich, 29, is a Kenyan-born Bahraini middle-distance runner. Rotich won the 800 metres at the 2012 Diamond League meeting in Monaco.
He kicked off his 2012 season at the Ostrava Golden Spike meeting on May 25 with a third-place finish in the 800 metres in 1:45.52.
Rotich made his Diamond League debut on July 20 at Monaco and won the race in a new personal best of 1:43.13. In his last race in 2012, he beat Olympic bronze medallist Timothy Kitum over 1000 metres at Dubnica nad Váhom, Slovakia.
Albert Rop-Bahrain- 5000m
Rop, 30, currently represents Bahrain in international competitions. In July 2013 at a meeting in Monaco, he set a new 5000m Asian record of 12:51.96.
Paul Chelimo Mustung
Born and brought up in Kenya, Chelimo initially went to the US in 2010 to run for Shorter College.
Chelimo found his path to US citizenship by joining the United States Army through the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program as a water treatment specialist, then entering their World Class Athletic Program in 2014.
